Allthough his education was modest, Heinrich Brugsch caught the
eye of king Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Alexander von Humboldt,
by pioneering in deciphering the demotic script. He was enabled
to study in Berlin and in 1851 Von Humboldt was a witness at
his wedding. The king financed his first trip to Egypt in 1853,
where he met the French archeologist Auguste-Édouard Mariette.

Back
in Berlin he wrote an essay on Hegel's philosophy at the University
of Berlin. He became a private teacher and also assistant to
Joseph Pasalacqua at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

He
travelled again to Egypt and then to Persia with J.H. Minutoli.
In 1864 he became Prussian consul in Cairo. In 1868 he returned
to Germany where he became Professor of Egyptology at the University
of Göttingen. In 1870 the went back to Egypt to lead the Egyptian
School in Cairo. In 1879 he returned to Berlin and in 1881 Egypt
awarded him the title of Pascha. He continued travelling abroad
and in 1886 he became a professor at the University of Berlin.